Update: Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina is at tonight’s city council meeting. The meeting started at 5 p.m. and is currently still ongoing. KOAT has a crew at the meeting. MORE: Three Albuquerque city councilors demand answers from APD Chief Harold MedinaChief Medina responded to a series of questions by city Councilors Dan Lewis, Louie Sanchez and Dan Champine sent in writing on Thursday, Jan. 25. All three councilors urged for accountability and a thorough review of policies into the federal investigation of APD’s DWI Unit. This is a developing story and will be updated as information is available. Bernalillo County District Attorney’s statement:”In a letter dated February 1, 2024, to the Albuquerque City Council, the APD Chief of Police stated “the District Attorney’s Office currently has the responsibility to notify APD of missed appearances.” This is simply not true and has never been true. The Federal DWI investigation is about alleged misconduct by DWI police officers. Instead of focusing on that issue, the Albuquerque Police Chief is blaming the District Attorney’s Office, the Law Office of the Public Defender, and the Metropolitan Court for the dysfunction and mismanagement of his DWI unit. He should refocus on putting things in place to prevent this type of disaster from happening again. Although the District Attorney’s office has never been under any obligation to ensure officers show up for scheduled court appearances, we have put in place an additional robust notification system so APD will be aware when their officers miss court. The bottom line is holding accountable those people who are drinking and driving and the safety of our community.” -Nancy Laflin, Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court statement in response to Chief Medina’s response on Pg. 8 of his letter regarding Metropolitan Court”In response to a recent media inquiry, the Metropolitan Court did provide the response below as to why the court did not adopt a recommended practice in a 2006 report. While the court respects the work of the project consultants for the 2006 “Examination of Scheduling Practices for Driving-While-Intoxicated cases in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court” report, it’s important to note the disclaimer on the second page of the report from seventeen years ago, which states “The points of view and opinions offered in this report are those of the project consultants and do not necessarily represent the official policies or position of the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts or the National Center for State Courts.” In order to maintain its role as the Court, and remain neutral and fair, the Metropolitan Court rejected the recommendation from the report that it “should maintain and regularly publish a list of those DWI cases that are dismissed because a law enforcement officer has failed to appear for an interview or for a trial,” because that is not the court’s responsibility. The justice partner group in Bernalillo County at the time, instead, decided that that recommended practice should be the responsibility of the District Attorney’s Office.” – Camille Baca, public information officer
Update: Albuquerque police chief Harold Medina is at tonight’s city council meeting. The meeting started at 5 p.m. and is currently still ongoing. KOAT has a crew at the meeting.
MORE: Three Albuquerque city councilors demand answers from APD Chief Harold Medina
Chief Medina responded to a series of questions by city Councilors Dan Lewis, Louie Sanchez and Dan Champine sent in writing on Thursday, Jan. 25.
All three councilors urged for accountability and a thorough review of policies into the federal investigation of APD’s DWI Unit.
This is a developing story and will be updated as information is available.
Bernalillo County District Attorney’s statement:
“In a letter dated February 1, 2024, to the Albuquerque City Council, the APD Chief of Police stated “the District Attorney’s Office currently has the responsibility to notify APD of missed appearances.” This is simply not true and has never been true.
The Federal DWI investigation is about alleged misconduct by DWI police officers. Instead of focusing on that issue, the Albuquerque Police Chief is blaming the District Attorney’s Office, the Law Office of the Public Defender, and the Metropolitan Court for the dysfunction and mismanagement of his DWI unit. He should refocus on putting things in place to prevent this type of disaster from happening again.
Although the District Attorney’s office has never been under any obligation to ensure officers show up for scheduled court appearances, we have put in place an additional robust notification system so APD will be aware when their officers miss court.
The bottom line is holding accountable those people who are drinking and driving and the safety of our community.” -Nancy Laflin, Office of the Second Judicial District Attorney
Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court statement in response to Chief Medina’s response on Pg. 8 of his letter regarding Metropolitan Court
“In response to a recent media inquiry, the Metropolitan Court did provide the response below as to why the court did not adopt a recommended practice in a 2006 report.
While the court respects the work of the project consultants for the 2006 “Examination of Scheduling Practices for Driving-While-Intoxicated cases in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court” report, it’s important to note the disclaimer on the second page of the report from seventeen years ago, which states “The points of view and opinions offered in this report are those of the project consultants and do not necessarily represent the official policies or position of the New Mexico Administrative Office of the Courts or the National Center for State Courts.” In order to maintain its role as the Court, and remain neutral and fair, the Metropolitan Court rejected the recommendation from the report that it “should maintain and regularly publish a list of those DWI cases that are dismissed because a law enforcement officer has failed to appear for an interview or for a trial,” because that is not the court’s responsibility. The justice partner group in Bernalillo County at the time, instead, decided that that recommended practice should be the responsibility of the District Attorney’s Office.” – Camille Baca, public information officer
